Open Fire
by Yuxi
Summary: SasuSaku. Her visits were much too spontaneous, but he finally learned to expect that too. Chestnuts, empty houses, and kisses. It's enough.


**Disclaimer:** If I did own Naruto, there'd already be NejiTen babies running around all over the place. Be grateful I don't.

**Author's Notes:** Just to clarify, I absolutely despise the pairing of SasuSaku. Please don't ask me why I'm writing it, for I'm just as lost as you. I hope I did it justice. Wait, no I don't! Ah! I'm losing my mind! XD

**Warnings:** Nothing. It's too sweet though. And…nobody dies.

_

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It gains the more it gives  
And then it rises with the fall_

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It wasn't something that was planned or thought out. 

It wasn't logical or reasonable.

It wasn't comfortable or rewarding.

It wasn't productive or promising.

And it was never a yes.

It began spontaneously, randomly, one Friday afternoon when she had been reading a book in the safety of her room. The fan had been buzzing lazily as it blew warm air around her head, and she had looked up and jumped out the window in a mad sprint towards the grocery store.

By the time night had rolled around, Sakura was already standing before the line that marked Uchiha territory from the rest of Konoha. The streets were dark and alien, but she didn't believe for a second that they were empty.

She was smiling as she walked a path long since etched into memory, known only to her. She fancied that even the air was colder in these parts.

Sakura found herself standing in front of a house just as generic as the others, but special and terrible in ways most people would never know. A single light was flickering dimly in the kitchen, muted by dirty drapes.

Before thinking and backing out, she reached out a hand to knock.

The door opened before she had a chance to make a sound.

He stared back at her, noting the nonexistent surprise on her face.

Silence rolled in waves around them, awkwardly, calmingly.

_She was going to go deaf from the roar._

"So? Can I come in?" Sakura grinned, hand holding up a nondescript plastic bag.

Sasuke stared at her long enough for her to consider turning tail, but stepped aside a beat before she did.

He never spoke. Even after the first few weeks, he never said anything.

The one time he did say something, it was to discourage her.

"I brought you roasted water chestnuts!" She declared brightly.

"I don't like them." He shot down immediately.

Sakura didn't falter for a second.

"That's all right. You'll learn to."

And for some reason, she didn't stop coming back. The weeks stretched out into months, and the visits always started a little earlier and ended a little later.

He never asked why she kept doing this at her own expense, not only depleting her pocket money to dangerous amounts but also giving away her Friday nights when she could have been doing something far more enjoyable and productive.

But then again, he didn't understand a lot of things.

She was fully aware that he could peel his own damn chestnuts, but she was also afraid that he wouldn't even bother to let her in the next time if she didn't do it for him.

He would always sit opposite to her around his painfully large kitchen table, suited for four but usually serving one. Sasuke apparently liked candles over electricity. One always burned between them when she was sitting, staring at her hands and peeling insignificant chestnuts.

Nothing changed no matter how many times she came.

_Everything was different again with each passing visit._

Sakura would prattle on about her life, never leaving out a single detail of her day. She wondered if he would ever get impatient and tell her to piss off.

_What would he do then?_

She didn't need him to speak, because she had plenty of things to take up all the time they shared together.

_What would he say?_

She never once mentioned his departure, his betrayal, his pain, his struggle, his echoing house, the numerous ANBU stationed outside, or the dull stains of blood shining in the very next room.

_Why did he want to explain?_

She never expected a conversation or an answer or even a grunt of consent so she kept going, realizing that this was probably as much human interaction as he would get. Maybe one day, everyone else would work up the nerve to realize he wasn't any different.

_What had he done to earn her forgiveness?_

The first time, she had peeled every last chestnut and laid them on a plate in front of him. Then, jerking from her seated position, she promptly bid him farewell and ran home, heart pounding for the rest of that sleepless night.

Sakura didn't even know if he ate them. But she always hoped he did, because each time after the first, she would always come back to an empty plate. She realized that this was stupid, because he could have just as easily thrown them away, but the girl left in her shut the possibility out.

She would never know, but she was right.

And after enough time, he had reached out a hand to help her peel them. It had startled her so badly that whatever nonsense she had been talking about had died on her lips and she might have even sputtered a little. The slip was only for a moment among moments, but the eternity stretched into it was immense.

He didn't seem to want to meet her eyes.

_He wasn't able to._

Sakura was just fine with it. Taking a deep breath, she had resumed cracking and peeling away the hard shell in her hand, ignoring the terribly warm feeling in her stomach.

Then she was sent out on a mission. And she couldn't come back for a month.

It went well enough, though she did manage to almost get her arm cut off near the end. It was on a Friday, and thoughts of chestnuts and kitchen tables and someone she didn't care to think about anymore had distracted her.

_She wondered if he was doing ok._

When she came back, she told Tsunade that she was going to take a week off and spend it resting at home. Her arm needed healing the natural way, and for some unknown reason, she had illogical amounts of stress and uneasy tension hammering away inside her head.

Sakura had finally resumed reading her book, or rather, looking at the words, lined up neatly across the page. It was Friday night again, and she was sitting in bed at home, trying to make her brain and eyeballs connect so she could understand what she had re-read for the sixth time.

She almost screamed bloody murder when her window popped open and Sasuke jumped inside her bedroom.

They stared at each other for the longest time. She was in a state of petrified shock.

Calmly, ever slowly, he sat on the side of her bed and laid a nondescript grocery bag between them.

Wordlessly, he took out a chestnut and began to peel.

She remained silent for two entire chestnuts before she accepted what he was giving.

"Well!" She smiled huffily, hating the long since forgotten joy and warmth tingling in her heart, "My arm's just fine and doesn't hurt at **all**, thank you very muc-"

He finally lost his patience. Sakura really did talk too much.

So he kissed her.

It wasn't something that was planned or thought out.

_It was expected._

It wasn't logical or reasonable.

_It was right._

It wasn't comfortable or rewarding.

_It was appreciated._

It wasn't productive or promising.

_It was all he had left to offer._

And it never was a yes...

But it was _never_ a no.

**End**

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MmmmmmmmaaaAHHHHH!! I must really be crazy if I'm writing for the couple I despise the most out of Naruto fandom. XD It was cute wasn't it? Sigh. Yes, yes it was. The waff could kill me now. 

Anywho, please review! Constructive criticism appreciated! I really do hope I did this couple some justice. Thanks for reading!


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